Digging machine



Feb. 10, 1931 SHQTWELL 1,792,126

DIGGING MACHINE Filed Jan. 9, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Feb. 10, 1931. Q SHQTWELL 1,792,126

DIGGING MACHINE Filed Jan. 9, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 B. gflmlwell INVEN OR ATTORNEY Feb. 10, 1931. SHQTWELL 1,792,126

' DIGGING MACHINE Filed Jan. 9, 1929 3 Sheets Sheet 3 5 Hum Fig.5

INVENTOR TTTTTT EY chine constructed in accordance with theinvent on. 1 Y

i 25-v on the line 33 of Figure l.

H ELIJAH B. sHo'rwELL, or ma ma xtrema}.

'DIGGING Mhofirivn 7 Application filed January" 3 iii-1 f. it

This invention relates to digging machines of the type designed 'for dig'ging post holes, holes for planting trees, as wellas holes for- A shafts, wells and other deep or shallow exca jovationsp Angobje ct of the present invention isthe ter which is simple and compact in constructionand may be readily moved to a desired 1 location, and which may be either manually or power driven, novel means being provided for adapting the machine to power operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention further includes the following novel' features and details of construction,

; to be hereinafter-more fully described, illus-' trated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front iew of a digging ma- Figure2 is a side view of the same.

I Figure 3 isan enlarged sectional view-taken {I Figure 4 is a top plan View of-the machine.

Figure 5 is a section on: the line 55 of Figure 1.

Referring to the'drawings in detail wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts, the machme shown comprises; a main supporting frame which includes a base formed of horizontally disposed sills 10. Rising from the base are spaced vertically disposed standards 11, while inclined n braces 12 which connect the base and stand:

ards serve to stabilizethe latter. The upper ends of the standardsare connected by means of a beam 13 while inclined braces 14 which connect the beam and standards serve'to in crease the rigidity of the frame. lVhile the construction described forms a supporting frame which is well adaptedfor the purpose, of course "the particular frame structure may be varied to meet various conditions. Movable within'fthe supporting frame is a carrier frame which includes spaced paral- -lel beams 15. Mounted upon the beams 15 of the carrier frame are bearing brackets16 *"which rotatably support a horizontally distween the beams15 of the'carrier frameis a vertically disposed hollow. cylinder: 18,. to

the upperend ofwhich is secured abevelcd 7 gear 19.- The ear 19. is spaced above"thef;

V carrierv frame and is supported by anti-fried provision of a machine of the above charac-" tion rollers 20- which areinounted up'o'n-said frame andwhich engage the "under face of i 'mounteduponthe'carrierframe and in turn the cylinder 118 soas to'hold the cy inder in proper posit-io with, respect to the carrier andsup'porting frames.

Remova cylinder18 asl shown at 23am cutting blades 24'; These blades are designed to dig into ")v and cut away the earth when thefcylinderisv f rotated and are removably secured to; the;

cylinder s'oithat bladesofdifferent sizes and] types may be substituted. 1 r

In order to rotate the cylinder '18, the shaft:

17 .ioarries beveled pinions 25and 26,Tone of.

which is fastupon the shaft, while, the other is loose and serves as a steadying pinion to hold the gear in proper horizontalposition and the cylinder '18 in proper vertical position during theoperation of the machine, I The machineis designed to move'vertically during its operation as'it enters and digs its way into the ground and-may beoper'ated either by'hand or powen Inthe former event; a crankarm 27 may be mounted upon. theouter endofthe shaftl'z andthis shaft operates through'slots 28 provided in the standards so as to permit of vertical move mentduring the operation of'the machine. l ,The machine may also be operated by pow-' er and a]? thispurpose there isprovided a rotatably mounted shaft-29 havingone of its ends (mounted in a member 30 carried by the: supporting framewhile its otherend may be. I mounted in a suitable bearing and driven by V any-suitable means;- The shaft 29 has mounted thereon a spr0cket"31,.while the shaft 17 has,.mounted the lfeon'a sprocket 32. chain oly secured to the lower end of the I 33 trained around these sprockets serves re tatetheshaft 17. 3 V f g i In order to compensate for the "vertical" J ch-utel42 at the upper end of the cylinder 18.

travel of theshaft 17 this shaft and the shaft 29 are connected by lazy tongs34 which carry idlersprockets35 around which the chain'33 is trained. Byreference to i-Figures l and 2 ofthe drawings it"will be seen that as the shaft 17 descends, the sprockets 35 will be separated so as to compensate for the positio'n'of this shaft. As the'shalft 17 moves upward;

curedjto the elevator and other end detachably woundupon theishaft'to regulate the height of the elevator, means to rotate the gear, cuttin blades at the lower endof the cylinder, an means to operate the elevator.-

In testimonywhereof I afiix my signature.

or shovels '37. The chains 36 pass around a lower SprocketBS and upper sprockets 39, 10 l H and All in'the order named so that the earthis c carried'upward and du'mpedinto a discharge Theelevatoris driven from; the shaft 17 by means of a sprocketand chain drive-43; and

gears The elevatorand-its driving means are movable vertically with the movement of the cylinder 18gand of course do'not rotate with this cylinder. V V

In order to raise and lower the cylinder 18,

ELIJAH B. '7 l a bail4t3 is provided for connection with one end "of'a cable a4 and this cable is trained over pulleys 45 and has its outer end adapted for detachable connection with the shaft 17. V

The blades may be lowered to engage the ground by unwinding the cable from the shaft 17 and the cable thereafter removed from the shaft during the operation of the machine, \Vhen itis desired to remove the blades, from the hole,the cable 44 is'rewound: I

upon the shaft 17 so elevated: j 1 7 Y A partition 17 is provided within the cylinder 18 between the chains 36. 1 7

that the machine maybe The invention is susceptible of various changes 1n its form, proportions and minor details of construction and the right is herein 7 reserved to make suchchanges asrproperly 7 fall within the scope of the'appended claim. Having described the invention What is claimed is 1 I e v V In a-digging machine, a supporting frame including spaced vertically disposed stand-' 7 ards and a horizontal beam connecting the upper ends of the standa.rds,a carrier frame I including spaced horizontally disposed beams pmovably'positioned between the standards, a

vertically disposed cylinder supported by and rotatable within the carrier frame, an elevator operating within the cylinder,-a beveled gear rigid with the cylinder, a shaft rotatably supported'u'pon the carrier frame and" extending through the standards, means op eratively connecting saidshaft and cylinder to rotate the latter when theshaft is rotated, a cable guided over the horizontal beam of the supporting frame and having one end 'se 

